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The Political Foundations of Development: The Case of Botswana

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  • Scott Beaulier
  • J. Subrick

Abstract

Unlike many of its fellow sub-Saharan countries, Botswana has avoided the African Growth Tragedy. The success lied in the ability of the government of Botswana to successfully adopt growth-enhancing policies. We argue that the success stems from three factors. First, the government enhanced its legitimacy by relying on traditional sources of authority. Second, the traditional leaders pursued policies that legitimized the political system. Third, the government did not expend resources on military expenditures during its first decade. The interaction of these factors explain Botswana’s success. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2006

Suggested Citation

  • Scott Beaulier & J. Subrick, 2006. "The Political Foundations of Development: The Case of Botswana," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 103-115, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:copoec:v:17:y:2006:i:2:p:103-115
    DOI: 10.1007/s10602-006-0002-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Cristian Pop-Eleches & Andrei Shleifer, 2004. "Judicial Checks and Balances," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(2), pages 445-470, April.
    2. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson & James A. Robinson, 2002. "Reversal of Fortune: Geography and Institutions in the Making of the Modern World Income Distribution," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(4), pages 1231-1294.
    3. Jeffrey D. Sachs, 2001. "Tropical Underdevelopment," NBER Working Papers 8119, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    Cited by:

    1. ., 2010. "The Korean Political System and its Effects on the Economy," Chapters, in: The Korean Economy in Transition, chapter 3, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Joshua C. Hall, 2016. "Institutional convergence: exit or voice?," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 40(4), pages 829-840, October.
    3. Becker, Sascha O. & Egger, Peter H. & Seidel, Tobias, 2009. "Common political culture: Evidence on regional corruption contagion," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 300-310, September.
    4. Ghebremusse Sara, 2019. "Application of Y.S. Lee’s General Theory of Law and Development to Botswana," The Law and Development Review, De Gruyter, vol. 12(2), pages 403-424, June.
    5. Seidler, Valentin, 2011. "Colonial legacy and institutional development: The cases of Botswana and Nigeria," ÖFSE-Forum, Austrian Foundation for Development Research (ÖFSE), volume 52, number 52.
    6. Solomon Stein & Virgil Storr, 2013. "The difficulty of applying the economics of time and ignorance," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 26(1), pages 27-37, March.
    7. Adam Martin, 2010. "The Analects of Boettke," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 26(Fall 2010), pages 125-141.
    8. Jonas Hjort, 2010. "Pre‐colonial culture, post‐colonial economic success? The Tswana and the African economic miracle," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 63(3), pages 688-709, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Botswana; Governance; Political institutions; Military spending; H56; O55; P16;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H56 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - National Security and War
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

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